Julius Caesar Rhetorical Devices

Imagine losing a best friend. Imagine never getting to say goodbye to them after witnessing their last breath while being brutally murdered. Imagine having to stand in front of a crowd trying to reason their death with them while trying to comprehend the death itself. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Mark Antony has to fill these dreadful shoes and take the first step in the right direction after witnessing the murder of his closest friend, Julius Caesar. In act three Antony stands in front of the group of Plebians after they have just listened Brutus, the conspirator’s, reasonings as to why Caesar needed to be killed. The crowd originally agrees with Brutus, but once Mark Antony uses his powerful speech devices, the commoners become much more …show more content…
In Act 3 Scene 2, as Brutus talks before the crowd, he defines his reason for killing Caesar due to his ambition, and defines himself as honorable for saving his country. Although Antony is simply expected to weep over Caesar when talking to the people, his powerful words are completely underestimated. Hearing Brutus’ speech gives Antony advantage over the commoners; he shows his ‘support’ for Brutus by repeating his words many, many times. As Caesar is described a faithful friend who never put him in the wrong, Antony makes sure to reiterate his loyalty to Brutus when he states “[b]ut Brutus says he was ambitious, [a]nd Brutus is an honorable man” (Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 86-87). Brutus proceeds to continue his repetition on line 93-94 by once again stating that if Brutus claims Caesar to be ambitious, then he is right because he claims to be honorable. Even as Antony ends his speech, he yet again continues his constant use of the words ‘honorable’ and ‘ambitious.’ Antony’s repetitive uses begin to make the crowd think about why he is repeating them so much. As they think they somehow begin to understand his underlying point; Caesar has no faults whatsoever, Brutus really responsible for the problems in